This Wednesday, three of the five Occupy activists arrested for attempting to blow up a commuter bridge in Ohio in May pled guilty to use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and attempted use of an explosive device to destroy property used in interstate commerce.. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Two 20-year-old suburban Cleveland men, Connor Stevens of Berea and Brandon Baxter of Lakewood, and Douglas Wright, 26, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty to three-count indictments in back-to-back appearances in U.S. District Court. A fourth man pleaded guilty earlier, and the fifth defendant faces trial after a defense-requested psychiatric exam.
Prosecutors said they calculated the three men could face 30 years to life in prison, based on the seriousness of the crimes. There was no plea deal, and U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said a sentence recommendation would be made later.
I attended the “Occupy the Truth for Peace and Justice” rally held in Cleveland in honor of Andrew Breitbart August 20 to bring attention to the widespread media coverup of the mens’ connection to Occupy. “Hating Breitbart” producer Andrew Marcus, who organized the rally, has documented their connections to Occupy as well as how the media continues to cover up the violence that continues to be embraced in the Occupy community. The rally gathered Tea Party activists from all over the country to demand accountability for the media’s complicity in covering up the Occupy members’ attempted terrorism. Michelle Malkin, Dana Loesch, Jim Hoft, Andrew Marcus, and others gathered in the spirit of Andrew Breitbart who always believed it was ultimately the media that we had to battle in order to take back the country.
While there, Occupy Cleveland held a small press conference where they continued to defend the men and say that they were victims of entrapment. U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach said, “Make no mistake about it—it was their plot. It was the defendants who selected the target they wished to destroy.”
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Boy, it’s getting tough to maintain a political narrative with all these muckrakers out there.
Some nutjob goes on a shooting rampage and various media types trip over themselves in a rush to pin it on the TEA parties, Sarah Palin, or the Republican party.
Actual OWS participants are convicted of attempted terrorism and it’s all crickets chirping in the distance.
Eastwood is right, they’re not journalists, they’re leftist hacks. And we need to remind people of that every chance we get.
This is one of those chances.
It’s OccupyCell time now. Perhaps they can enlighten and radicalize the prison population. Or, failing that, make a lot of new boyfriends.
Yeah, sure, “victims of entrapment.”
They entrapped themselves with their own evil plans.
The left wing media provided cover.
Would be good to see the entire “alternative” (less so with each passing hour) media run the complete story, from the beginning until now, making the MSM’s refusal to cover the story an integral and central part of the matter, which it most certainly is. Personal names, media names, outlet names by market, quotes – the whole nine yards should be included. With the election still two months away much could happen and much work remains to be done. The importance of holding both the MSM and individuals accountable for past actions and statements–and the MSM refusal to carry this story was an action–and their actions and statements going forward is going to be doubly important given the deplorable, silly performance of most Democrats and the cowering, trivial, coverage of their convention by the MSM. Add in that Occupy, darlings of the MSM and cultural elite, has now copped to a major life threatening felony and outright sabotage and the importance of following the “alternative” media has become much more than a passing fad. Rely on the MSM at your own peril.
Anyone know if the statute of limitations has run on Bill Ayer’s? Maybe we can still get his butt in jail. (What’s that you say, he knows the president? Double jeopardy? Damn.)
Bill Ayers, no apostrophe. Sorry.
Can we start a “Deemocrat war on roads and bridges” meme now…???
How about “DemocratsWarAgainstAmericaSince1860” meme.
Can you imagine the outrage IF the conspirators were Tea Party folks?
The fact that the MSM was largely silent goes to support my contention that the American public has been systematically dumbed down by the liberal establishment.
And, the fact remains that there are a considerable number of people that do not have access to the internet, (Drudge) or cable, (Fox News), for alternatives to the MSM.
The above in MNSHO is the reason that this is a “tight” race. Had all factors been neutral, this would be a runaway GOP situation…
To be fair, I listen to my local radio station with Fox News Radio. This morning when they announced the arrest, they didn’t mention the Occupy Cleveland connection at all. They might have mentioned it later as I can only listen to the radio while commuting back and forth to work.
Exactly why the MSM silence is dangerous and they should be called out for it loudly. They should ‘be’ the news. For the very reason you cite, too many people think the Occupiers are the simple, noble, rag-tag rabble of vandals, dippy adolescents, and unsavory, unsanitary nuisance the MSM portrays. While true, this obscures the fact that they provide cover for an outright criminal and dangerous element. How many beyond those convicted knew of the Cleveland plot may never be known, but to believe they were the only ones who knew stretches credulity. It’s comforting to know that law enforcement takes them seriously, but everyone would be a lot safer if the media took them seriously and gave them the attention they deserve. This is just one small example of the dangerous game the main stream media is playing in the United States today with its coverage of everything. The sooner they go down to the alternatives, the better off and safer we’ll all be.
Sorry, you and these others do not have a clue about the media or occupy.
All national media are biased to a sickening degree, FOX and MSNBC are twins, with CurrentTV no better.
As occupy goes, each city group is a separate entity. Some are re-elect any Democrat driven, others have given up politics completely. There are even a few Republicans who are occupy members, and some are ex-Republicans such as myself.
Churchill once said something like this, “If you aren’t a liberal by 20, you have no heart. If you aren’t a conservative by 40, you have no head.”
Well, if you aren’t an Independent by 55, you have neither.
Wise up folks, stop being cowed and subservient. Grow up and Mature, if you haven’t yet. Think for yourselves. Step out and see the world. Isn’t being an Individualist require becoming an Independent too?
What exactly is an independent anyway? Someone who stays home on election day in protest over the absence of a perfect candidate?
Those who refuse to participate in politics are doomed to be ruled by their inferiors. I’ll be voting against Obama this November.
The only thing worse than a Republican is a Democrat. The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Democrat pretending to be an ex-republican independent in order to discourage republicans from voting.
Independents do not support the two-party dictatorship. Read the Constitution and associated history. Both of the major parties willfully violate the Constitution. They have restricted representation in the House. The design spec is 30,000 people per rep. Today it’s 700,000 per rep. Another is ‘The President shall be commander in chief…when called into actual service…’ When was the last time war was declared?
There are people willing to battle these usurpers of the Constitution, they’re called Independents. We vote in each and every election, because our system requires citizen participation, something 40% + have not understood.
However, don’t mistake an Independent for a moderate. Independents are decisive and forceful. We do not quit, because we know what is at stake – the survival of the country. The two major parties have equally produced a morally bankrupt Nation.
Read the founding era history from the source, a Republic we are not anymore.
“Paultard cleanup on Aisle nveric!”
Nveric, I can’t work out whether you’re crazy, ignorant, or just lying about not being a socialist.
I have read the constitution, many times; I wonder whether you’ve read it even once.
They have restricted representation in the House. The design spec is 30,000 people per rep. Today it’s 700,000 per rep.
Garbage. The constitution says one rep per 30K people is a maximum, not a minimum. There is not the slightest hint in that this ratio is some sort of ideal. Where did you pick up such a bizarre notion?
Another is ‘The President shall be commander in chief…when called into actual service…’
That is a Dowdification. Shame on you. Either you are a shameless liar, or an idiot who has never read the constitution and has been taken in by a shameless liar. The constitution makes the president commander in chief of the US armed forces at all times.
When was the last time war was declared?
16 October 2002.
Churchill said nothing of the kind, and he wouldn’t, because it’s nonsense.
Some 19th century Frenchman said that if you are not a republican at 20 you have no heart, and if you haven’t become a monarchist by 40 you have no head. Nothing to do with “liberal” (i.e. socialist) and “conservative” (i.e. liberal). There is nothing big-hearted about socialism; it’s foolish and evil at whatever age.
I would say that Breitbart was only partly correct in identifying the media as the greatest threat to our liberty. The leftist media is a product of a leftist university system. Our state university systems, and any school that accepts government aid, are in what amounts to a continuous loop with the progressive state. The more liberals the schools can churn out, the more left the country will lurch, the more that leftist policies will be imposed on the schools, and the less space there is for dissent anywhere within the loop.
The loop has to be cut. This is true in K-12 as well. Jimmy Carter merits a special place in hell.
I agree about the Department of Education reference via Carter. The National government must exit education other than to enforce equal funds for each system – nationwide – but not by national taxes. Local taxes, whatever each county can afford, are pooled, then dispensed equally. Private schools, if kept, operate solely from private sources. Vouchers must cease. Public Education needs rebuilding, but not by the National government. Nor can the National government withhold funds for any reason; their sole purpose is to enforce equal funding.
What a thoroughly crackpot — and tyrannical — idea.
The National government must exit education other than to enforce equal funds for each system – nationwide – but not by national taxes. Local taxes, whatever each county can afford, are pooled, then dispensed equally.
So the national government sets a different tax rate for each county?! I guess you were so busy finding nonexistent clauses in the constitution that you missed the one that actually is there, about indirect taxes having to be set at a uniform rate throughout the Union. And why on earth should taxes be redistributed like this? Why should people in one place pay for schools in another? Sounds like classical Marxism: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”! And if the national government is distributing other people’s money to local schools, then doesn’t it have a duty to make sure that money is well spent? How can it just hand the money over and have no further role?
Private schools, if kept, operate solely from private sources. Vouchers must cease.
What sort of obscenity is this? Why the hell should parents pay taxes for education and then have to pay again for their children’s education? If there are to be public moneys spent on education, why are they not entitled to an equal share, for whatever sort of education they want for their children? Especially since government schools are not allowed to provide an education that is founded in a belief in God? Vouchers are the only fair method of funding education, assuming it is to be funded by taxes at all (which it shouldn’t be).
Public Education needs rebuilding
Why does government, at any level, have any proper role in providing education at all? Government doesn’t run supermarkets or shoe stores, so why should it run schools?
Oops, missed a </b> tag.
Home schooling. It isn’t just for rugrats anymore.
https://www.coursera.org/
http://www.udacity.com/
https://www.edx.org/
http://ocw.mit.edu
The problem with these guys is that if they had blown up all those bridges where would they then sleep?
You are lucky that these are dumb & may even have a conscience . They a least pleaded guilty.. The worry is that they may be a trial project sent out by much smarter controllers to test the system.
And for Harriet (above ) the sort of people who could manipulate others -if this were the case – would all be smart graduates of elite private universities.
The AP version I saw only mentioned Occupy in the very last sentence of the lengthy article. But of course, there’s no media bias.
If the crimeas are federal, watch for Obama to pardon them if he is re-elected.
“”If this gets into the media, it would be a disaster”” said one of the Occupy members.” 5/5/12, Cleveland.com
BanedbytheGuardian, they did not plead guilty because of their conscience, they pled out because they could not afford to pay for lawyers competent enough to beat the offer the prosecution laid on the table. A felony beef is expensive. and these poor saps probably believed that someone like Soros would come to the rescue.
These dirtbags had to plead guilty in order to be eligible for pardons from Obama as he leaves office in January. You can’t pardon someone who hasn’t yet been convicted of a crime. Someone fairly high up in the Justice Department has guaranteed these guys that they won’t spend more than a few months in jail.
You can’t pardon someone who hasn’t yet been convicted of a crime
Why on earth not? Where did you get such a silly idea? Nixon was never convicted of anything.
Never attribute to bias that which is adequately explained by dishonesty.
[…] You can file this one under things you would probably never know unless you get your news from the internet. Profess William Jacobson’s Legal Insurrection reports three Occupy activists have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges. […]
[…] Occupy activists plead guilty to conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges […]
I think it is a bit ironic that the tea party is constantly portrayed by dems and the media as the angry potentialy violent people, but it is supposedly idealistic OWS that has been implicated in the only acts of actual violence.
[…] who can forget the terrorists that wanted to bomb a bridge in Cleveland: Two 20-year-old suburban Cleveland men, Connor Stevens of Berea and Brandon Baxter of Lakewood, […]